Boy George: Dame Tracey Emin was part of Culture Club's early rehearsals
Culture Club frontman Boy George has revealed that the acclaimed artist Dame Tracey Emin took part in the band's early rehearsals.
Boy George has recalled how the artist Dame Tracey Emin took part in "early rehearsals" for Culture Club.
The Karma Chameleon singer has revealed that the artist, known for pieces such as My Bed, joined the new wave group in their early days before deciding that band life "wasn't for her".
Boy George told the BBC: "I knew Tracey when she was 14, and in fact, it was at a Bowie gig that I met her again years later, when she became Tracey Emin.
"I knew her as Tracey from Margate. So when I went to see David Bowie at the Hanover Grand I went backstage, and he goes, 'Have you met the artist, Tracey Emin?' And he was introducing me to Tracey and I was like, 'Oh, my God, you're Tracey Emin?'
"It was a real light-bulb moment, because I knew her when she was a kid. So that's how I was introduced to her by David Bowie. I was very impressed."
The Do You Really Want to Hurt Me hitmaker continued: "She was sort of early rehearsals (with Culture Club), because in those days it was post punk, there was a lot of, 'Oh, I can learn to play bass in three months, or I can learn this.' It's very impromptu, but she decided it wasn't for her."
Boy George believes that Tracey would have been a "great" addition to Culture Club, but pointed out how she has thrived away from music.
The 64-year-old star said: "It would have been great, but still, she's done well without us."
Asked if the Turner Prize-nominee was a good musician, Boy George said: "Oh, brilliant. I mean, she's always been amazing. She's always been like this... you never forgot her.
"She's one of those people that, even when I met her, I met her when she was 14, and she was memorable even from then."
Meanwhile, the Church of the Poison Mind singer recently expressed his dismay at the hatred people show minority groups online.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the Christmas Lights switch on at The London Eye earlier this month, Boy George said: "Never more in my life have I understood that we are individuals. Diversity is a fact of life, it’s not a discovery, everyone is acting like they’ve discovered it, it’s a fact. No one is the same as anyone.
"I think the conversation is insane at the moment when there are so many things we can be focusing on.
"I am a hippie, I want everyone to get on with each other, have fun. Nothing too scary."
